Monday, October 20, 2008

Fun with the Fish Experts

Bright and early Saturday morning (10 am – early for college students) five University biology students and I (Kortni – a Museum Educator) gathered at the Bean Museum for a Nature Experienceship. The fish experts (Peter, Josh, and Justin) took us up Spanish Fork Canyon to search for different species of Utah fish.

Here are the basic steps to finding fish with fish experts

Put on your waders and watch out for barbed wire (you do not want a hole in your waders. The Utah stream water is freezing!)

Grab the fish shocker, nets, and camera (this is not actually necessary). For all of you who have never seen a fish shocker check out the pictures. It looks like something out of Ghostbuster. There is a backpack with batteries that supplies the voltage to a stick with a metal ring on the end of it. The purpose of it is to stun the fish so that they stop swimming, rise to the surface, and are easier to catch

Wade into the stream.

Walk upstream putting the metal ring of the fish shocker into the water. Don’t touch the water with exposed skin! It will hurt (but not injure).

Observe the water for stunned fish and when you see one catch it with the net.

Put the fish in a bucket, look at what type of species it is, take a picture with the fish, and then put it back in the stream.

The whole experienceship was pretty amazing. The weather was great; the fish experts were hilarious; and all of the students seem to enjoy touching with stunned fish.

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The Bean Museum

"The Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum at Brigham Young University is a dynamic repository and trustee for a remarkable group of biological collections. These collections are used to celebrate the role of Jesus Christ as Creator, while enhancing student learning and mentoring and promoting faculty teaching and research. They also serve as a unique venue for inviting the public and scientific community to explore and contemplate intricate biological relationships and processes."

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Recurring Events:

Discovery Reading: Thurs. 11:00am

LIVE ANIMAL SHOWS!!!

Visit the Bean Museum website (mlbean.byu.edu) to schedule a free in-house live animal show, or come to one of our public shows - weeknights at 7:30 PM (Mondays @ 6:30 & 7:30 PM) and Saturdays at 1 PM and 3 PM. Click the image above to see our current show schedule!